To Control Your Life, Learn to Manage Your Energy
Ask yourself: ‘Does this activity fuel or drain me?’
I’m big advocate of journaling. Every day, I try to reflect on my current emotional state, asking myself questions like, “Why am I in a good mood?” or, “Why am I feeling shitty right now?” Looking back at my answers over time helps me get a better sense of who I am and where I’m going.
Recently, these answers led to an epiphany: How I view just about everything in my life is determined by my energy level. When my energy is high, I feel optimistic. The people around me are wonderful. I’m doing things right. But when my energy is low, the world seems bleak. I shy away from others and question my choices.
That epiphany led to another one: If I want to be more in control of my life, I need to learn how to manage my energy. But even though our energy guides us, no one ever teaches us how to manage it. We’re often told about the importance of managing our time: “Have a problem? Here are 50 ways to carve out more hours to solve it.” But we rarely hear any tips or tricks for energy management.
So I focused on figuring it out for myself. Here are the strategies I’ve adopted, all of which have helped me absorb an important lesson: You won’t improve anything unless you manage your energy first.
